


When the son returns

by Kjam



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Angst and Feels, Child Abuse, Dysfunctional Family, Family Issues, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Lambert Needs a Hug (The Witcher), Pre-The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27919240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kjam/pseuds/Kjam
Summary: "You can't give him away, Robert! Not to him!"Smack. Smack."Shut up, woman! I gave my word."Lambert jumped up, ready to run into the house, but his sister grabbed his hand."Let me go, Olga! I have to help mom.""You will just make dad angrier. He will beat you too. Might even break your arm again."A giant of a man entered the garden. The two kids stared at him. He had strange eyes, like a cat's. He barely looked at them before going inside."I came for my price.""Sure, Master Witcher. Boy, come in here! Lambert!"Lambert's abusive father sells him to Vesemir. Years later he returns to his family as a Witcher.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37





	When the son returns

"You can't give him away, Robert! Not to him!"  
"Shut up, woman! I gave my word."  
Lambert looked up from building mud castles. Dad was angry again.  
"I won't let you.."  
Smack. Smack.  
"You will not talk to me that way."  
The boy jumped up, ready to run into the house, but his sister grabbed his hand.  
"Let me go, Olga! I have to help mom."  
"You will just make dad angrier. He will beat you too. Might even break your arm again."  
A giant of a man entered the garden. The two kids stared at him. He had strange eyes, like a cat's. He barely looked at them before going inside. Olga and Lambert ran to the window, peeking inside.  
"I came for my price."  
"Sure, Master Witcher. Boy, come in here! Lambert!"  
He didn't know if he should run away and hide or go inside. Either way, dad was going to be angry. Best get it over with. His father grabbed him and yanked him towards the man.  
"Here he is. All yours."  
Lambert didn't understand what was going on. What did mean, why was he giving him to this strange man?  
"Mom?"  
She let out one heartbreaking sob, but didn't dare to stop the Witcher from lifting the kicking and struggling boy. Lambert begged and screamed at Vesemir to no avail. He was brought to Kaer Morhen, and his training began. He hated being there, hated knowing that he had left his mother and sister with that monster. He was supposed to protect them. And life at Kaer Morhen wasn't a good one, either. He trained and fought and studied to the brink of total depletion, then the next day it started all over again. And when survived the first rounds, when he was deemed fast and smart enough, came the Trial of the Grasses. The pain was grueling. Only five of them survived, out of the thirty. And Lambert hated how his humanity slipped away from him. He hated his eyes, how he saw and heard things he wasn't supposed to, he hated what he was trained to do, and he knew exactly who to blame for all of this.

***

Lambert has been on the Path only for a few months, but he already hated it. Although he was good at it, he didn't like killing monsters and the humans were rarely grateful after the job was done. They tolerated him at best, at worst chased him out like a dog, with stones and cruel words. So he changed directions and headed to the place he once called home. He rode his horse through the village at night. He didn't want any unnecessary attention. He came with one purpose in mind. It took him some time to find the old house. He tied his horse to the walnut tree he used to climb so often. He lingered a bit in the garden, filled with petunias. His mother's favorite. Did that mean she was alive? Or did Olga do it? Well, he was going to find out soon enough. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. There was some shuffling, a man cursing, then a candle was lit and the door creaked open. An old man was standing there. Lambert barely recognized him. The years and the wine took its toll on him. He held the candle high and starred at him. He seemed to recognize what he was because he tried to slam the door shut.  
"What do you want? There are no monsters here."  
"I disagree." He stopped the door with his hand and forced his way inside. "Father."  
The man almost fell over, as he tried to get away from him.  
"Get out!" He screeched. "You are not welcome in my house!"  
"Robert? Who is it?"  
Lambert stared at his mother. She seemed so thin, so fragile in her nightgown. He noticed the black eye, and that infuriated him even more. His father made the mistake of using this distraction to hurl himself at the Witcher. Lambert fended off the hit with his arm, not even pulling his sword out. He wasn't going to waste good steel on him. He punched him straight in the face. The man yelped, as blood spurted out of his nose. Lambert grabbed him by the collar and lifted him from the ground.  
"Look at what you did to me!" He yelled. "Look into my eyes, do you like them? Do you know what I went through to become like this? Do you know how many of the boys died to become like this?"  
"Fucking monster." He spat on him.  
"You made me into this monster."  
He drew the first punch blindly, followed by another and another. He could hear the bone break, and blood spattered on his face. He couldn't stop until he heard his mother's scream.  
"Lambert, stop it! You will kill him!"  
He looked at her. She seemed scared, and his heart broke when he realized she was scared of him.  
"He deserves it."  
"He is your father."  
Lambert stared at the bloody man. He wasn't the monster he was so afraid of as a child. Just a pathetic, beaten old man, who reeked of piss and alcohol. He was somehow still conscious.  
"Get up." He yanked him up. "I won't kill you, but just because of her. So listen to me very carefully and do as I say. Go to Astra, get in a ship, and sail to Kaerdon. And never come back. If you don't board the ship, I'll know it, if you even think about coming back, I'll know it. And then I'll come for you and finish this, and she won' be there to stop me."  
His father went running out on the door. Lambert slowly turned to his mother and extended his arm to hug her. But she stepped back, and the fear was still there in her eyes.  
"It's me, mom. Lambert."  
"I know."  
She sat down by the table and fiddled with her hands.  
"Never thought you would come back."  
Lambert crouched down before her, trying to get her to look at him.  
"I always wanted to come back to you. But I couldn't do it sooner. Mom, please, look at me. I came back to you."  
She looked down at him but didn't move to hug him, to kiss him like Lambert wanted her to.  
"You changed. I wouldn't even recognize you if you walked by me."  
"I'm still me, mom."  
He took her hand, but she pulled it out of his grasp.  
"No. You aren't my blue-eyed little boy. Please just let me remember him that way."  
Lambert stood up. Nothing hurt like this before, not the grasses, not the injuries or the beatings. He wanted to shake her and scream at her, he wanted to cry, he wanted to run far away. But he still had one thing to do.  
"What happened to Olga?"  
"She got married. She lives at the end of the road, in the house by the inn."  
That was all he needed to know. He hesitated on how to say goodby. At last, he pressed a kiss on her temple and walked out. He washed most of the blood away in the well and got on his horse. He was almost out of the village when he decided to turn around. He had to see Olga, even if she reacted the same way. His knock was so much more hesitant this time. The door opened almost immediately, and his sister was standing there.  
"Olga?"  
"Yes, that's me. How can I help you, Sir?"  
"I'm sorry. This was a bad idea."  
He turned around, but she called after him.  
"Wait! Lambert, is that you?"  
As soon as he nodded she crushed in a hug.  
"I knew you would come back. I always told mom, Lambert will come back one day."  
She pulled him inside. The kitchen was lit by candles. There was a pile of vegetables on the table, she must have been preparing them.  
"Come in, come in. Let me have a look at you. You grew up alright. Big scary man. You have some scars, too. And your eyes changed. Remember, it used to match mine."  
Lambert couldn't get a word out. He was shocked by how nice she was. Then Olga took a look at his bloody knuckles, and understanding filled her face.  
"Did you kill him?"  
"No. But he won't be a problem anymore. I sent him away."  
"Good."  
"You aren't angry?"  
"Why would I be? That bastard got what he deserved. He only got worse after you left. I begged mom to move here with me, but he wouldn't let her."  
"She can now. So you are married?"  
A smile lit up her face.  
"Yes. To John, the butcher's son. You might remember him. We have two kids, a girl, and a boy. I named the little one after you. They are asleep now, but you can meet them in the morning."  
"I don't want to bother…"  
"No, you wouldn't. You are my little brother, and you just came back after almost a decade. I want to hear everything."  
So he tells her. He tries to leave out the most gruesome parts, and focus on the few good memories he made, about how they pranked Vesemir or broke into the pantry and ate until their stomach hurt. Still, he makes her cry with the rest of the story.  
"I can't believe they did that to you. I…"  
"What is this mutant doing in my house, Olga?"  
Lambert cursed himself for not noticing the man before. He had a knife in hand, and even in his nightclothes, he looked rather threatening. Lambert automatically reached for his sword, but Olga put her hand on his arm.  
"Calm down, John. This is my brother, Lambert. He came back."  
The man lowered the knife but didn't look too happy.  
"He is a Witcher. Those are bad news. I want him out of my house."  
"He is my brother."  
"Do you want to hear what the people will say if they see him here? I want him gone, right now."  
Olga opened her mouth to argue, but Lambert stopped her.  
"It' s alright. I was going anyway."  
"I'll see you out."  
She sent one last angry look at her husband, then walked Lambert outside.  
"I'm so sorry."  
"Is he good to you? Or is he like…?"  
"No, no. John is a good man and he loves me. But you know how the folks are, what they say about Witchers. He just doesn't want rumors about us."  
"I understand."  
And he did. He didn't belong here anymore. He was a Witcher now, not a human. The only place for him was on the Path.  
"Promise to take care of mother."  
"Of course."  
Olga hugged him so tight, it almost hurt.  
"Take care, Lambert. Come by, if you can."  
"Maybe I'll."  
He won't and they both knew that. So he gave one last hug to her then got on his horse, and rode as fast as he could, out of the village, never looking back.


End file.
